The Eastern Will County Communications Center board is asking Crete Village officials to allow a microwave dish to be placed atop the municipal water tower west-southwest of Crete-Monee High School.

EASTCOM says the newly located dish would expand the operation’s fire-equipment dispatching capabilities. That, in turn, would mean better service for the first responders previously dispatched by the now-defunct Steger Public Service Answering Point.

Steger and South Chicago Heights police and fire and the Steger Estates Fire District joined the Crete-based EASTCOM telecommunications/dispatch center this spring, increasing participating agencies from 11 to 16.

The microwave dish will be part of a network that “will be used as the backbone of the new fire radio system connecting the new three transmitter/receiver sites together,” according to the village board’s Thursday, May 22, meeting agenda.

EASTCOM’s request is scheduled for a first reading.

History
Operating out of the Crete Police Station, EASTCOM dispatches 24/7 for police and fire agencies, as well as Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) Division #27. MABAS Division #27 handles large scale fire / EMS incidents in the area. It is staffed by three 911 operators.

The combined EASTCOM dispatching operation was formed in October 1998 by five villages and four fire protection districts to centralize police and fire dispatching in Eastern Will County, while delivering cost-effective high-quality service. It was Will County’s fifth public service answering point.

EASTCOM has operated as a separate entity governed by an operating committee and a board of directors through intergovernmental agreements with the Villages of Beecher, Crete, Monee, Peotone and University Park, and the Beecher, Crete Township, Monee and Peotone fire districts.